Mini-review: Watch the Sky by Kirsten Hubbard

Watch the Sky by Kirsten Hubbard
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Publication Date: April 7th 2015
My rating: 3 stars 

The signs are everywhere, Jory's stepfather, Caleb, says.Red leaves in the springtime. Pages torn from a library book. All the fish in the aquarium facing the same way. A cracked egg with twin yolks. Everywhere and anywhere. And because of them Jory's life is far from ordinary. He must follow a very specific set of rules: don't trust anyone outside the family, have your works at the ready just in case, and always, always watch out for the signs. The end is coming, and they must be prepared. School is Jory's only escape from Caleb's tight grasp, and with the help of new friends Jory begins to explore a world beyond his family's farm. As Jory's friendships grow, Caleb notifies Jory's mother and siblings that the time has come for final preparations. They begin an exhausting schedule digging a mysterious tunnel in anticipation of the disaster. But as the hold gets deeper, so does the family's doubt about whether Caleb's prophecy is true. When the stark reality of his stepfather's plans becomes clear, Jory must choose between living his own life or following Caleb, shutting his eyes to the bright world he's just begun to see.

I’m normally not one to read middle grade books, but Hubbard’s book I had previously read was full with beautiful writing, and I knew that I’d want to experience something similar again, also who could resist this gorgeous cover?

Watch the Sky was a lot different to what I was expecting it to be, but the main character Jory really impressed me. He had lived a sheltered little life with his family, told to always question things, keep to himself and keep quiet about his family (his family had taken a girl who was wondering around in their garden and they hadn’t told anyone about it). So when his family finally decides that Jory should go to school instead of being home schooled I was happy as I wanted Jory to be able to experience life instead of living under the control of his step father. It did take a while for Jory to trust kids at school, his step dad had really drilled the idea of questioning everything into him, that Jory had a hard time letting people get close to him. But I adored Alice Brooks-Diaz and her attempts to bring Jory out of his shell; she really was such a sweet girl.

Watch the Sky was once again a beautifully written story from Hubbard that I was able to fly through the beautiful passages. And of course this book consisted of three characters that really made this book for me, two of them actually underwent tremendous growth and I’m glad that this other character was there to support them through it. My only complaint is there was this one character in the story who I really hated, hated because he seemed to believe he knew everything and encouraged others to believe his farfetched ideas too. Some of the things he did with no remorse too made me hate him even more. But this character aside, Watch the Sky was a beautiful read, a lot different to what I was expecting, but wonderful never the less.